Competition for ice time should push Marlies
Players sent down from Leafs excited to get the opportunity to make a long playoff run
Ben Smith has gotten pretty good at being the new guy in the dressing room. The Toronto Marlies are Smith’s fourth team between the NHL and AHL this year and he hasn’t had a problem fitting in on any of them.
“I’ve had a lot of experience getting traded,” Smith said. “Hockey guys are hockey guys, so you tend to fit in. It’s a little easier this time around because I knew so many guys playing with the Leafs that, when I came down, I knew half the roster with the Marlies.”
Indeed, the Marlies roster was at 46 players Tuesday, including 21 that spent at least some time with the Maple Leafs this season — 13 forwards, seven defencemen and goaltender Garret Sparks — with the return of the final seven that finished the NHL season in Toronto.
It has created tremendous competition for jobs on a team that intends to go deep in the Calder Cup playoffs.
“That’s going to be good for us as we go,” said Smith. “That competition will keep pushing guys, keep us working. It’s never easy come playoff team. When you’re fighting — let alone the other team, you’re fighting within your own team for ice time — it’s a good situation for our team.”
The Marlies have locked up first place in the American Hockey League. They play a day game Wednesday — 11 a.m. at the Ricoh Centre — against Hartford. They finish the regular season with home games Saturday at Sunday.
Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe has gone to a training camp-style practice, in which the main team goes on the ice as one unit and the black aces take the ice later.
“These guys have all played together for most of the season, be it here or with the Leafs,” Keefe said. “The guys that came back were with us for most of the season. In a lot of ways, it’s more like business as usual. It’s just nice to have the whole group at the same time.”
Defenceman Connor Carrick, like Smith, was a deadline-week acquisition from another organization. He said there is nothing awkward about walking into a hockey dressing room and taking a role that perhaps belonged to another.
“Everyone has been through it here at this level,” said Carrick. “That is what happens in pro hockey, especially at the American league level. I’ve been on teams where you had 45 seconds on the power play unit to score, otherwise the power play was different the rest of the night. That’s this level. What’s important is carrying a positive attitude, bringing your ‘A’ game in practice, you’ve got to a good pro the whole time.
“You’re in a bad place if you’re looking for people to feel bad for you. You’re not in the NHL? Poor you. Neither is anybody else. You’re getting scratched? I’ve been scratched . . . If you want to play on a poor team and play 25 minutes a night, go ahead. But they don’t give those guys rings.”
That kind of attitude permeates the Marlies. Smith has had an instant impact on the Marlies, with four goals and two assists in the three games after being sent down by the Maple Leafs.
Most times, getting sent down to the AHL is a letdown. Not so for the Marlies, who have a Calder Cup in their sights.
“It’s playoff hockey,” Smith said. “It’s something I didn’t get a chance to play in last year. Any time you have a chance to win a trophy, it’s special. It’s something to add to the resume. For me, I didn’t play too much hockey this year (injured in the first half ), so I have a chance to extend my season, play a bit longer and help these guys.”
If he is lucky enough to win the Calder, he’ll add that ring to another pretty special one: his Stanley Cup ring. Smith played for the Blackhawks in their Cup run in 2013 and his name is engraved on the chalice.
“It was pretty awesome,” said Smith, who replaced Marian Hossa in Game 3 of that final. “I got called up the last game of the year, then got a chance to play one playoff game in the final. It was a great experience being around the guys. I wish I had been an everyday player.” Notes: Forward Nikita Soshnikov and defenceman Viktor Loov, both injured with the Maple Leafs, are on the mend and should be ready for the AHL playoffs. Soshnikov could play Wednesday, said Keefe . . . Defenceman T.J. Brennan won the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s outstanding defenceman for the 2015-16 season. The award is voted on by coaches, players and members of the media in each of the league’s 30 cities.